AOL goes flat-rate in UK

FrankBarnako

America Online's (AOL) AOL UK Tuesday announced flat-rate pricing offering unmetered access to its subscription Internet service for £14.99, about $21. The fee includes telephone connection costs, which, in Great Britain, are metered by phone service providers. The flat rate deal will be offered to existing members next week, and eventually be offered nationwide. AOL UK Managing Director Karen Thomson called the new plan "a watershed event that will transform the interactive medium into a true mass-market phenomenon in the UK."

MSN expands MoneyCentral to Europe

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) plans to expand its MSN MoneyCentral online personal finance service to France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. No timetable was outlined. The company also said its US service has been enhanced (beta.moneycentral.msn.com) by the addition of stock alerts, international financial data and online seminars about managing money. "The new version of MoneyCentral reflects two rapidly emerging trends in online finance: international expansion and access to information any time, anywhere," said Chris Jolley, lead product manager for MSN MoneyCentral at Microsoft.

NetRadio dominates Webcast ratings

NetRadio grabbed five of the top 10 slots in the July Webcast ratings calculated by Ceridian Corp.'s (CEN) Arbitron. Virgin Radio was number one in terms of the researchers' Aggregate Tuning Hours calculation, followed by Internet-only streaming audio sites operated by NetRadio (NETR) and KNAC.com. Virgin's channel (http://www.virginradio.co.uk/) was listened to a total of 236,100 hours during July, NetRadio's (http://www.netradio.com/ ) "80's Hits" was heard 201,000 hours, and KNAC.com was listened to 201,000 hours. Other NetRadio channels in the top 10 included vintage rock and x-generation tunes. The balance of the top 10 included terrestrial broadcasters WABC-AM (http://www.wabacradio.com/), CFNY-FM (http://www.edge102.com/), and KPIG-FM (http://www.kpig.com/). "Consumers are turning to the Internet for content that can't be easily found on traditional media, including international channels-such as Virgin Radio or the many Canadian channels and Internet-exclusive channels with highly targeted formats, such as KNAC," said Joan FitzGerald, director of marketing and research & development, Arbitron Internet Information Services. "These results bear out the findings from our upcoming fifth Internet study that shows that listening online has tripled in the last two years." The report lists 800 audio channels.

Sears offers online bill paying

Sears, Roebuck and Co. (S) will partner with CheckFree (CKFR ) to offer the retailer's 60 million credit card customers the ability to view and pay their Sears bills online. The agreement between Sears and CheckFree represents the largest business relationship to date between a retailer and an electronic billing and payment provider, the companies said.

Privacy, audience tracking focus of industry meeting

Almost a dozen companies will meet Thursday in San Francisco to discuss the how to measure use of the Internet and other forms of digital media. Advertisers are increasingly eager to identify consumers use of media and devices including software, cell phones, PDAs, music, books, and video. Members of the group, the Radiate Internet Roundtable, said companies feel a need to discuss measurement issues as they reflect advertising rates, company valuations and consumer privacy. Companies participating include Motorola (MOT), MediaMetrix (MMXI), Nielsen Media Research and WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive. This is the group's second meeting.

Deals of the day

Used vehicle marketplace AutoTrader.com will become NBC Internet's (NBCI) provider of automotive classifieds and be a prominent advertiser on NBCi's new consumer portal service, slated for launch this Fall. No terms of the agreement were released.

Apple (AAPL) said it licensed Amazon.com's 1-Click patent and trademark for its Apple Online Store (www.apple.com). The company has launched a new version of its store, using the 1-Click technology.

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